Tag: Kate Green

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many of her Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments that have been carried out; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom

The Family Test was announced by my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister in August 2014, and introduced in October 2014. DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and the Department follows that guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf.

The Family Test is an integral part of the policy making process and is applied in a proportionate way in the development of all new policy in line with the Family Test guidance.

The objective of the Test is to introduce a family perspective to the policy making process, specifically to make the potential impacts on family functioning and relationships explicit.

DECC has not applied the Test to date but is considering where it is appropriate to do so. In addition where relevant, DECC already publishes in Impact Assessments analysis of the impact of policies on energy bills across different types of households.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with his ministerial colleagues on the implementation of the family test throughout the Government.

Priti Patel

Officials from different Government Departments have had discussions with a view to aid the implementation of The Family Test across Government. Activity resulting from these discussions has included holding a series of seminars with key stakeholders and officials to raise awareness of the issues to consider when applying the Test and developing and disseminating relevant evidence, learning materials and best practice.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-02-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much child maintenance debt his Department has written off for (a) 1993 and (b) 2003 scheme cases since April 2015.

Priti Patel

£17.3m of Child Maintenance debt was written off between 1 April 2015 and 31 January 2016 following confirmation from the Parent With Care that they did not want the arrears to be collected.

£2.7m was written off where either the Non-Resident Parent or the Parent with Care had died.

A further £0.6m was written off for a variety of reasons including: amount being less than £65 due to the Secretary of State or situations where legislation does not permit recovery.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-06-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to page 5 of Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessments: Mandatory reconsideration registrations, decisions and outcomes statistics, published in June 2016, how many of the mandatory reconsideration decisions not received by his Department’s decision-maker were appealed at the First Tier tribunal; and how many of those appeals were successful.

Justin Tomlinson

The information is not available at this time.

The data is being collated and will be published in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to implement the family test.

James Brokenshire

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and my Department follows that guidance.

The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf

The Family Test is also being integrated within the Department’s impact assessment process to ensure it is consistently addressed. Recognising that all Government policies will impact on families in some way, the Government’s guidance on the Family Test is clear that policies should pass a threshold of proportionality before the Family Test is applied in full. New Home Office policies in the current Parliament have not met the threshold for applying the Family Test. The Family Test, when applied, will be published as part of the relevant impact assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance has been issued to Jobcentre Plus staff on the application of benefit sanctions where a parent is unable to comply with the conditions for that benefit because of lack of suitable childcare.

Priti Patel

This Government spent £5bn on childcare in 2014-2015 – more than any previous administration and an increase of £1bn since 2010. We are now going further still, with a new package of support designed to improve the affordability and accessibility of childcare for working families. We are extending the free entitlement for 3 and 4 years from 15 hours to 30 hours per week for working parents, from September 2017, worth £5,000 per child per year. We are also introducing Tax-Free Childcare for working parents from early 2017, with a Government contribution of up to £2,000 per child.

Guidance for Jobcentre Plus staff makes it clear that the Jobseeker’s Allowance requirements should be tailored to the individual circumstances of each claimant and may be varied if those circumstances change.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Sudan on behalf of Telahoon Rata and Rev. Hassan Taour, arrested on 13 and 21 December 2015 respectively; and what information his Department holds on their (a) location and (b) physical and mental condition.

James Duddridge

Our Ambassador in Khartoum met the Minister of Guidance and Religious Endowments and the Sudanese Director of Church Affairs in February and raised the cases of Mr Talahon and Rev. Hassan. Officials from our Embassy in Khartoum are in close contact with their legal team. The legal team have informed us that both men are currently being held at a National Intelligence and Security Service’s facility in Khartoum. Mr Talahon’s family has been able to meet him once while Rev. Hassan has not been granted visitors. Rev. Hassan’s family is particularly concerned about his physical health given his history of stomach ulcers. We will continue to scrutinise these cases closely.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2016-07-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of withdrawal from the EU on the UK’s role in global affairs.

Mr Philip Hammond

The UK referendum made a decision to leave the EU, not to turn our backs on Europe, let alone the world. Throughout the referendum debate, campaigns on both sides rejected any notion that a “Leave” vote would signal any kind of retreat from the world. The UK will remain a major player, fully engaged in world affairs, including through our membership of multilateral organisations. We are a Permanent member of the UN Security Council; the second largest contributor to NATO; a key member of the Commonwealth, of the G7 and the G20. We also remain committed to renewing the nuclear deterrent. Our voice will always be prominent – but we will perhaps have to work a little bit harder to ensure that our voice carries the same authority it did before.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of her Department’s policies have been assessed against the family test; what steps she has taken to publish the outcome of such assessments; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire

The Family Test was announced by the Prime Minister in August 2014 and introduced in October 2014. The DWP published guidance for Departments and officials on how the test should be applied when formulating policy and my Department follows that guidance.

The guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/368894/family-test-guidance.pdf

The Family Test is also being integrated within the Department’s impact assessment process to ensure it is consistently addressed. Recognising that all Government policies will impact on families in some way, the Government’s guidance on the Family Test is clear that policies should pass a threshold of proportionality before the Family Test is applied in full. New Home Office policies in the current Parliament have not met the threshold for applying the Family Test. The Family Test, when applied, will be published as part of the relevant impact assessment.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Green on 2015-11-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many parents have received a sanction for failure to comply with conditions for receipt of benefits because suitable childcare was not available to enable them to comply.

Priti Patel

The information as requested is not available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.